Making it Through
by modernxxmyth
Summary: A Skate story. When Sawyer returns to camp with members of the tail section, Kate finds herself drawn to Sawyer even more. The pair begin spending lots of time together during Sawyer's recovery from his bullet wound....Something's bound to happen, right?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Aloha! I'm going to be writing this fic in my spare time until close to episode 2x06 ("Abandoned") arrives. Which is in about 3 weeks. So, this won't be too long a fic, but it'll still be fun. A nice way to spend your time waiting for Skate to happen, right? Anyway, it'll probably be somewhere between 5 to 10 chapters. Enjoy!

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Lost...but god, I wish I did.

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_**Making it Through**_

**Chapter One- Watching and Waking**

Kate smiled slightly as she watched Sawyer sleeping, an oddly peaceful look on his face. It was nearing dawn, and Kate had been at his bedside all night. Sawyer had just gotten back with Jin, Michael, and the survivors from the tail section two days ago. He had been nearly _carried_ the whole trip it seemed, by Michael and Jin. His bullet wound had become infected a few days after his shoulder had received its particularly painful gift. He'd slowly become feverish and extremely ill, and they realized that if they didn't get him to Jack quickly, he might not make it. But luckily they had, and Sawyer was now on many different antibiotics that would help him fight off the infection. But Sawyer was still very ill and it was quite possible that if he wasn't under careful watch, something could happen. He was still having occasional hallucinations and feverish quite often, but he was getting better. Sawyer was strong, Kate knew, and he could make it through this.

He _had_ to make it through this.

Kate watched the sun continue to rise as she remained by Sawyer's side, watching him fight the pain, even through his sleep. Kate sighed audibly, a look of concern briefly crossing her face. She was tired, but she didn't intend on sleeping. Not with Sawyer like this. Someone needed to be constantly watching him, and Jack had gone to sleep hours ago. Not that any of that mattered to Kate, of course. She wanted to be by his side either way. She cared about his well-being and wanted to be there to see the outcome. To see that he was alright.

He _had_ to be alright.

Because, as much as Kate wanted to deny it, she needed him. She cared for Sawyer deeply. He was the one person on the island that could truly understand her. Who didn't expect anything from her. Just to be herself. Because when she was with Sawyer, it was the only time she could be the person she was, without the irrational expectations of others. When she was with Sawyer she was simply Kate. Not the fugitive. Not Jack's shadow. Not the loner. Not the number one on the island's most-hated list. She was simply…_her_. She was Kate, unlike any other time. And it was one of the greatest feelings in the world.

Kate didn't know when exactly it happened, but at some point, it seemed she drifted off to sleep for a bit. When she awoke, she found herself sitting in the exact same spot she had been in a few hours earlier. She groggily rubbed her eyes and looked around for a moment, trying to awake. She stared out at the horizon for a moment. It was still very early. She suddenly heard a voice from close by.

"Have a nice nap there, Freckles?"

And suddenly Kate was awake.

Qucikly, immense relief swept over Kate as she turned to face Sawyer, who was laying just where he had been when Kate had fallen asleep. He was grinning at her, despite the pain he was probably in right then. _Thank god_, Kate thought. "Sawyer!" Kate was smiling brightly now. "You're awake!"

"What, you expect me to sleep forever?" he asked her.

Kate rolled her eyes. She had always loved the playful banter the two of them had always seemed to find themselves immersed in. "Well, you've been unconscious for two _days_, Sawyer. How are you feeling?" Kate asked.

"Well, darlin', other than the fact that hell seems to have relocated to my shoulder, I'm doing absolutely wonderful!" he said rather bitterly, though it seemed he was just barely holding-back a smile.

Kate rolled her eyes. "You're such a jerk, Sawyer!"

"Aww, come on Freckles, you know you missed me," Sawyer said with a smirk.

Kate tried desperately to hold back a grin, but failed terribly.

After a moment, their smiles faded and they were left in silence. They shared a meaningful look, which said everything between them that couldn't be spoken. It said that he was right, that she _had_ missed him. That she'd missed him _terribly_. And it said that he had missed her too. It said that they'd both thought about each other and worried about each other. Just a simple look between Kate and Sawyer said so much. They shared such a deep connection that words hardly mattered. They had always said everything they were too afraid to say allowed through their expressions. Kate could read Sawyer like no one else, and vise-versa. Most of the time nothing needed to be said. They communicated through their eyes more than they did verbally. A look was enough. It was always enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Aloha! Here's chapter two... I finished it off last night really late...here you go!

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Lost. But gosh, I wish I did.

**Chapter Two**

Kate and Sawyer spent about an hour more just sitting around, talking, and of course, arguing good-naturedly.

"So what's the super squad been up to since I left?" Sawyer asked.

Kate laughed. "Well...Claire's baby, Aaron, got kidnapped by Danielle for a while but Charlie and Sayid got him back. It's kind of a long story. Anyway, while all this was going on, Jack, Locke, Hurley, Arzt, and I went and got some dynamite to open the hatch…we opened it later and found some guy named Desmond in it. It's a really long, complicated story. But later on we got to have a big feast with all the food from the hatch. I wish you could have been there…you would have loved it. There was so much food…and everyone was so happy. It was wonderful," she spoke wistfully. "Anyway, later on we ended up finding the bottle with all the messages in it that you guys had on the raft. That was the first sign we had that something had happened to you guys."

Sawyer interrupted her, "What'd everyone make of it?"

"Well," she said carefully, "we didn't exactly tell everyone at first. Claire found it originally and she and Shannon took it to Sun. They thought she should know and that she should decide what to do with it. But she decided it was in the best interest of everyone not to know. She told me later, though. Showed me the bottle and everything…" Kate trailed off, sadness suddenly filling her.

Sawyer was staring intently at her, soaking in her every word. He became confused when she didn't continue. There was a long silence, as Kate stared at a spot on the sand, though her eyes were unfocused, in obvious thought. Sawyer was about to question her about it, but she spoke suddenly.

"All I could think about when she handed me the bottle was that I didn't get to say good-bye to you." She still looked distant, lost in the memory. But suddenly, Kate snapped out her reverie. It didn't take her too long to realize what she had just said, and what the repercussions could possibly be. _Why the hell did I say that?_ she asked herself. Kate sighed and waited for Sawyer's smug remark to come. But it never came. For what might have been the very first time, Sawyer was silent.

Around noon time, Jack finally woke up. When he noticed that Sawyer was awake, he rushed over towards he and Kate.

"Kate, why didn't you tell me Sawyer had woken up?" Jack asked, visibly upset.

"Well, I thought I'd let you sleep. You were up pretty late last night working on him," she replied.

"You were awake too! You could have woken me up and gone to sleep."

Kate shook her head. "Does this really matter, Jack?"

Jack sighed, defeated, and took a look at Sawyer's arm. "How's it feeling?" he asked.

"Like hell," came Sawyer's response.

Jack did his best to ignore the ferocity of Sawyer's comment. "Do you have much motion back yet?"

Sawyer shook his head. "I can hardly move it."

Jack nodded, "Come on, let's try and sit you up."

It took several attempts for the three of them to finally maneuver into a sitting position, seeing as he couldn't very well use his arm to help. But eventually, after many failures, they Sawyer finally reached a sit.

Jack ran several tests on Sawyer's arm, all of which, Kate and Sawyer understood none of. Finally, after quite a while, Jack concluded, "You're going to be fine, Sawyer. But you're going to want to refrain from moving your arm for quite a while. You'll need to stay in bed the next three days or so. It's likely you might still drift in and out of consciousness a bit, at first. The pain will be bad, but I have some medicine that can help a little bit. After three days or so you can start moving around, just make sure not to use your arm. I'll come back for reexamination in about a week." Sawyer nodded. Jack got up to leave, and Kate followed him for a moment outside of Sawyer's shelter.

"Jack," Kate spoke. "I know Sawyer's too proud to say it and all, but...thanks. I'm sure he appreciates _somewhere_ in his heart what you did. I know I did. Thank you, Jack."

Jack smiled, "You're both welcome," Jack paused, "Take good care of him, Kate."

"I will."

"And don't hesitate to come down to the caves and get me if you have a problem, alright?" Jack insisted.

"Will do, Jack," Kate smiled.

And with that, Jack left, heading back to his place at the caves.

Kate watched him leave until he was nothing but a small dot in the distance. She then headed back inside and sat down next to Sawyer again.

"Howdy!" Sawyer greeted her, a glimmer in his eye. As he smiled, Kate couldn't help but notice how adorable he looked with his signature dimples. Kate flashed him a smile back, and the pair fell into easy conversation.

Both Kate and Sawyer got along uncharacteristically well for the rest of the day. It was rather odd, actually agreeing on everything and just having fun. But it was wonderful. Sawyer had wanted to play another game of "I Never," but Kate had to sadly remind him that he had given her all his alcohol for Jack to use while operating on Boone. The pair of them found themselves talking to each other about everything—from goofy anecdotes about the third grade, to serious drama that was in their previous lives. But whenever the conversation seemed to get a little _too_ serious, Kate was always there to steer it away. She wasn't ready to get into that yet. She'd taken to wearing her emotions on her sleeve the past few days, and she wasn't going to let it get the best of her now. But Kate knew that the time would come soon that she and Sawyer would talk about their pasts, and that time, most likely, would be far too soon for her caring.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Hey there. I know this chapter's pretty dang short, but it was originally part of one big chapter, that I felt would be better split up. So...here we go.

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Lost. It is the creation of J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof. I'm just trying to have a little bit of fun with the story they've given us.

**Chapter Three- Explanations **

Over the course of the next few days, Kate could see that staying in one place for so long didn't suit Sawyer. He'd spent the past four days in his make-shift bed, on strict orders not to leave it, and had been antsy beyond reason. Then again, Kate mused, she would have been the same way. Only much, _much_ worse. It seemed that neither one of them were used to staying in the same place for too long.

"Sawyer!" Kate exclaimed one night, with obvious irritation. "Would you stay still for just _one minute_? You're driving me insane!"

"You're talking to _me_ about sitting still?" he asked disbelievingly. "Freckles, you're worse than I am! Ever since we got to this god damn island you've been running around, always off on some new adventure. You wanna tell me why that is?"

Kate looked away. She didn't want to talk about that right now. "I'm not answering that."

"And why the hell not?" Sawyer exclaimed. "You _never_ want to tell me _anything_, Kate!" His use of her real name did not go by unnoticed by her. "I've nearly told you my whole god damn history, and you've told me nothing!"

"You want me to answer your question, Sawyer?" Kate asked fiercely. "Fine. But don't expect me to tell you my whole history because it's just _not going to happen_, alright?"

Sawyer didn't reply. He just stared at her, waiting.

Kate drew a deep breath, "I'm just not used to this. I can't stay in one place. I can't settle in. Before the marshal caught me, merely days before we arrived here, I was on the run for _years_. I'm used to moving around from place to place. Whenever a problem occurred, whenever something went wrong, I'd immediately run. It's just who I am. It's my instinct at everything to run away. I just can't settle in. I don't work that way. And here, trapped on this island, there's no where for me to run. I'm trapped."

They were both silent for a few moments. After what seemed like an eternity, Sawyer spoke. "You and I got more in common that you think, Sweetheart," he said gruffly. She looked at him questioningly, until he explained, "I don't settle in either, usually. Don't like to get attached. I'd come to a city for a job, get the money, and get out. New city, new job, then out. Never in the same place for more than a month."

Kate nodded. "Settling in is what got me in the end," she admitted. "I stayed with this guy, Ray, for three months. He was good guy, but I never should have stayed so long. I had had every intention on leaving the moment I arrived, but I didn't. He offered me a place to stay. And I accepted. I stayed with him for nearly three months. He took me in, out of the kindness of his heart and gave me some work and a place to stay. I let myself get too comfortable, and I stayed. Then, one day, he saw my picture at the post office. He saw that there was a $23,000 reward for me. And Ray had a hell of a mortgage, so he turned me in. That's when the marshal got me." Kate let out a deep sigh.

"That why you so afraid to settle in?" Sawyer asked cautiously.

"Probably," Kaye replied distantly, lost in thought.

Sawyer nodded. He was really glad that Kate had told him, even if it was just a tiny bit, about her past, about what her life had been like before they had crashed on the god-forsaken island. The pair were silent for a long time, Kate's head now resting against the side of Sawyer's "bed." It took several more minutes fore Sawyer to realize that Kate had fallen asleep.

**A/N:** I love reviews. So please press the blue button. Just as long as no where on the button does it say "Execute." Because that'd just be opening a big can of worms, now wouldn't it be?


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **I have made an attempt on Kate's past/original crime in this chapter. Please do not be scared off by it, if you don't like it. That's not what this fanfic centers on. It's just part of the chapter.

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Lost. It belongs to J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof and the crew.

**Chapter Four- Need**

Sawyer watched Kate sleep for a long time, lost in thought and lost in the moment. She looked so oddly innocent when she slept. This, of course, made absolutely no sense to Sawyer. She was a criminal. A killer. He knew that she was _anything_ but innocent. But still, as he watched her sleep, she looked that way to him for some reason that he just could not figure out.

He continually watched her sleep for several more minutes. But as time passed, her look of peace changed to that of disturbance. He watched sadly as she began to shift around restlessly, obviously trapped in the middle of a horrifying nightmare. Sawyer could tell that she was muttering something, but it was too quiet for him to make out the words. But it seemed that as the intensity of her dream increased so did the volume of her voice.

"Stop!" he heard her cry, "Stop it! Get away from me!" she exclaimed as she slept. "Leave me alone." Sawyer could now see tears slipping silently down her face. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" She was near sobbing now, Sawyer could tell, and he couldn't stand to just sit there and watch her relive the horrible thing that she seemed to be experiencing.

He sat up, ignoring the throbbing pain in his shoulder, and reached towards Kate, planning to wake her. He gently tapped her on the shoulder, but she flinched away, obviously still dreaming. "No," he heard her mutter. Sawyer started to shake her. "Kate! Hey, Kate! It's me, Sawyer! It's time for you to wake up now!"

Kate's eyes immediately flew open, and she sat up with a start. She looked around for a moment, nonplussed, taking her several moments to realize where she was and what was going on. But realization dawned on her, and she let out a sigh.

"You okay, Freckles?" Sawyer asked seriously.

Kate let out a shaky breath and turned towards him, nodding. "Yeah…I just…I haven't had that dream in a long time."

"What was the dream about?" Sawyer asked.

"It doesn't matter. It's just something from my past," Kate replied, unable to mask the disturbed look in her eyes.

"What was it?" he pressed on.

Kate paused and took a good look at Sawyer, who looked back at her with understanding eyes. Just by looking into his eyes Kate knew that she needed to tell someone. And she knew that it was okay. He would understand. "It was about my step-dad," she said quietly.

Sawyer's expression darkened. "He hit you, Kate, when you were younger?"

"He did a lot more than just hit me," she commented, shuddering slightly, tears beginning to form in her eyes again.

Sawyer paused, doing his best to keep his anger in check, "He abused you sexually, too, then?"

Kate replied with a tiny nod of confirmation.

"Why didn't you tell someone?" he asked, with sudden desperation.

Kate shook her head. "It wouldn't have made a difference," she muttered. "Even if I had told someone, nothing would have changed. No one would have believed me. Everyone thought highly of him and savored his opinions. And his opinion towards me was obvious. He had everyone we knew wrapped around his finger. He made my entire family hate me...I couldn't stop it if I tried," she stated, tears slowly freely down her face.

All was silent with the exception of Kate's stifled sobs. After several moments, once Kate had controlled her crying, Sawyer asked, "Was he the one you killed, then?"

He heard a sharp intake of breath at this question. She was silent for several moments. "Yeah. He was the first one. First man I killed. I just couldn't take it anymore...I had to make it end." She let out a shaky breath. Her lip was trembling and her entire body was shaking.

It was in that moment that Kate realized she needed him. Needed him now, more than ever. He was the first one that she had told anything like this to in a long, long time. He was one of the very few people who knew how it had all began. And the feeling of relief at his acceptance of it was overwhelming. And Kate had a lingering suspicion that he knew something else about her, now, too. He was far too good at reading her for him not to know.

He knew that she needed him.

And he knew that he needed her.

Kate felt Sawyer brush away the tears that still clung to her face with his thumb and she felt her lips form something that must have resembled a slight smile. She looked him in the eyes then and saw the exact same need, exact same emotion, and exact same acceptance as she was sure he saw in hers. And in that moment, Kate knew that this was alright, too.

With that, the pair closed the already-small gap between each other and their lips brushed up one another's, at first gently, with pure emotion, but then more intensely, as the great need began to take over. Kate stood up, never removing her lips from Sawyer's, and positioned herself comfortably in his lap. After a moment, their tongues met, and the pair completely lost themselves in the moment, knowing that they'd have nothing to regret, no matter what happened.

**A/N: **Reviews are my muse. Please, please review.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Okay, here's the final chapter. But I'm writing a new, much longer one with a couple friends that should be up within the next few weeks. ;-

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Lost.

**Chapter Five- The Morning After**

The next morning, Kate awoke from a very deep, peaceful sleep, wearing nothing but an airline blanket, lying partially on top of Sawyer, and partially next to him. It took her a moment to realize what in the world was going on, as thoughts of the previous night quickly flooded into her mind. Kate smiled a true smile—a type that hadn't crossed her face in a very long time.

She let out a contented sigh and shifted her body so that she was facing Sawyer. He was still fast asleep, just as she had expected him to be, with a calm expression on his face. She watched him for a few moments, the smile never leaving her face, as she watched the simple rise and fall of his chest. Then, regretfully, she decided to wake him so they could both get dressed before someone caught them in a compromising position.

Kate shook Sawyer lightly and he groaned. She heard him mutter vaguely, "Five more minutes…" as he tried to go back to sleep. Kate laughed. "Sawyer, you need to wake up!" She shook him again. He groaned again, but woke himself up despite it.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm awake," he mumbled, opening his eyes.

"Morning," Kate greeted him, placing several kisses on his jaw-line.

Sawyer grinned, "Morning, Freckles."

Kate placed another kiss on him, this time on the lips, which Sawyer quickly deepened. After a few moments, Kate reluctantly pulled away and said seriously, "We need to get dressed."

"Aww, why the hell would you wanna go do something like that for, Sweetcheeks?" Sawyer protested.

"Jack will be here soon to check on your shoulder. Do you _really_ want to be found like this?" Kate asked. Then, a moment later, after seeing his expression, she said, "You know what? Don't answer that. Just get you're clothes on."

He reluctantly got up after Kate and got dressed along with her.

"How's your shoulder?" Kate asked.

"Hurts," he said shortly.

Kate frowned. "Last night can't exactly have helped…sorry."

"Hell, don't be sorry, Sweetheart, I sure know I ain't," Sawyer stated with a grin.

He sat down again, laying back. Kate positioned herself comfortably in his lap, leaning into Sawyer.

"So," he began, "_now_ you don't mind if we're found by the good doctor like this?"

Kate turned her head to face him. "Right now," she said, her face merely inches from his, "I could care less." She brushed her lips gently against his. Kate willingly lost herself in him as the kissed, forgetting everything else but the two of them and he made her feel.

But, most unluckily, they were interrupted a few minutes later by exactly who Kate had feared would find them.

It was Jack.

He stared at the pair with a look of mingled shock a disappointment. "Oh…sorry if I was," he paused sadly, "um…interrupting something." He started to leave.

"Jack!" Kate called out. "Sorry…we were just…well…" she was at a loss of words. She was silent for some time. "You needed to look at his shoulder right?"

"It can wait," Jack stated with slight bitterness.

Kate was silent as he turned to leave. "I'm sorry Jack," she spoke. Once Jack was out of sight, she turned back to Sawyer, who was looking at her with a pained, angry expression.

"You're sorry, huh?" he asked her coldly. "Sorry you ended up with me? 'Cause you can go ahead and have the doc if he's what you want!"

Kate sighed, "No, I'm not sorry...I didn't mean it like that, Sawyer. I don't want Jack," she paused, "I want you. I could never really be with a guy like Jack. He doesn't understand and he never will. He's trying to fix a person whose damage just can't be reversed. Any feelings I ever had for him were because he reminded me of someone I lost. Someone I loved. But Jack just doesn't understand me at all. If I was with Jack he'd just ignore the parts of me he doesn't like, he'd over-look the darker aspects of my character. But you won't do that. You offer acceptance, Sawyer. I need that more than anything. And you understand," she explained, "I know you do," she said softly. Sawyer remained quiet, absorbing her every word. "Listen," Kaye began, "I'm sorry, but this isn't going to be easy for me. I haven't exactly been with a guy that I actually _cared_ _about _in a long time."

"Who were you with, then?" Sawyer asked gruffly.

Kate paused, "Guys I manipulated. Sometimes when I was on the run, I'd use guys. I'd seduce them to get what I needed. I hated it, but I did what had to be to done to get what I wanted," she explained sadly, "I'll do _anything_ if I want something bad enough."

Sawyer nodded. "Well I'm sure you've figured out I haven't been with anyone I cared about for a while now, either, seeing as what I do for a profession and all."

Kate laughed lightly, "You can hardly call it a profession, Sawyer."

"I make money, don't I?"

"Not _legally_."

"Hell, look who's talking now!" he said, almost playfully. Kate gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, well, what can I say? I'm a hypocrite."

Kate smiled as they fell back into their usual flirty banter. She was glad that the fighting had come to end, at least for now. She knew that things wouldn't be easy with Sawyer, but since when was anything easy for her? She could care less if her relationship with him was easy because she knew it would be worth it.

Kate knew deep within her heart that some how, they'd be able to make it through.

Fin.

**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed. Please review.


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